The bestselling author of Logical Chess Move by Move guides players through 62 masterly strategies for chess success. Each game provides a classic example of a fundamental problem and its best resolution, described with chess diagrams and Chernev's lively notes. The matches—all by chess greats such as Capablanca, Tarrasch, Fischer, Alekhine, Lasker, and Petrosian—turn theory into practice and illuminate the game for every player. This revised edition features an updated algebraic format.

Most chess games are not won – they are lost. Many instructional chess books tell you how to improve a position when it is already (or may be) favourable. This book offers help when you definitely do not have the advantage. Every chess player needs a sound arsenal of defensive techniques. This book covers them all – counterplay, when to accept sacrifices, how to anticipate short- and long-term threats, and how to minimize losses. It also helps you create a strong underlying psychological framework for defensive technique – it teaches you how to stay cool under fire, how to stonewall and how to exploit your opponent's weaknesses.

Chess is great for developing a child's analytical skills, fostering the competitive instinct—and having fun. Nothing beats this cute, character-based guide for teaching youngsters how to play. Jess and Jamie—two rough-and-tumble, chess-obsessed kids—explain it all: what the pieces are and how they move; the opening, middlegame, and endgame; checkmate; and sneaky tricks that win. The book's friendly, entertaining, and essential to any child's bookshelf.

Chess is 99% tactics, and this lively self-instructor, tailor-made for improving players, will teach you how to anticipate the possibility of a chess combination, identify the appropriate tactical device, calculate up to 3-4 moves ahead and visualize the final decisive blow. Reading this classic work by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld, who each spent a lifetime writing about chess, will increase your tactical skills and lead you along the path to winning chess.

Mikhail Tal is one of the all-time chess greats. In 1960 he became the youngest champion in world history at the age of 23, sweeping to victory at his first attempt. His extraordinary tactical ability has never been bettered, and his reputation goes from strength to strength.

This absorbing book, first published in the early 1980s, is based on diaries kept by Tal’s coach from their training sessions, and this unique perspective makes it a fascinating and effective chess instructor, written in engaging language and suitable for teenagers as well as older readers.

It shows how Tal achieved greatness through hard work, application and the influence of a world-class coach, and through this book modern readers can catch a glimpse of the development of a true chess genius. The book is fully updated and converted to algebraic format.

If you want to become a chess master, there are certain things you need to know. The Masters know them and now you can learn them too. This invaluable book collects all these techniques together in one volume, so you can try them out, tick them off, and progress on your path towards chess mastery.

Every chess player needs to know how to handle pawns. Pawns form the 'playing fields' of chess games, a semi-permanent structure that can determine whether a player wins or loses. This fully updated version of a timeless chess classic will give you the comprehensive knowledge to mastering pawn structures.

Written by one of our biggest-selling and best-loved chess authors, in his trademark chatty, accessible but always informative style, this book is filled with practical exercises and test games that will reveal the secrets of how to join chess's elite ranks.

This truly outstanding book, first published in Russian in the 1970s and regarded there as a classic, contains everything you need to know bout how to deliver checkmate. It contains a wealth of elegant and sophisticated chess tactics as well as systematic and effective instruction.

Calculate Like a Grandmaster Learn from the World-Class Attacking Players

Catalog Code: B0112BT

This is a penetrating study of the attacking methods of the most aggressive chess players of the modern era-from 1960s world champion Mikhail Tal to Magnus Carlsen, teenage leader of today's new wave of deadly attackers. The attacking style is a good choice for any chess competitor, but especially for less advanced players, who will relish the fireworks it produces.

It's a fact of chess life that if you want to win, you have to put a bit of study in. Every chess player, from near-beginner to experienced tournament player, needs to learn the openings and keep on top of current theory. But studying doesn't have to be dull.

The legendary Anatoly Karpov has won over 250 Grandmaster tournaments, many more than any other player in chess history. His games are characterized by the gradual and patient pushing of an opponent back to the wall, before finally finishing him off with a deadly blow.

This is not your typical beginner's chess book! Written by longtime children's book author Paul Mantell, and International Master of Chess Dean Ippolito, Chess in Action effectively captures the excitement of the battle: the thrill of staying one step ahead of your opponent, of launching a surprise attack, of drawing your adversary into a trap.

In this authoritative reissue of one of the most important chess books ever written, the great Bobby Fischer takes the reader move by move through 60 of his most instructive and entertaining games, including the astounding 'Game of the Century' played when he was only 15 years old!

Chess devotees simply can't get enough of Bobby Fischer. Every facet of his personality and his play unfolds in this biographical study. In addition to analyzing his exceptional talent, it captures and puts into perspective his tough youth, anti-social tendencies, fights against the chess authorities, and growing mental illness.

Assess your chess strength with this test-yourself guide. In this instructive and entertaining book, based on the author's Chess Monthly column, Grandmaster Daniel King invites you to sit alongside the leading players in the world and predict their moves.

The book aims to fill a gap in chess literature by listing the record holders in numerous aspects of the game. It is divided into four sections: Games; People; Tournaments, Matches and Events; and Around the Black and White Board, giving the chess play of some amazing chess record moves.

The Sicilian Bb5 is the most popular and successful Anti-Sicilian variation. Vassily Ivanchuk used it to score a stunning win against Gary Kasparov at Linares in 1991. This book provides full coverage of both 2...d6 3. Bb5+ and 2...Nc6 3.Bb5. It shows you how to implement in your own games the ideas that have worked so successfully at the highest level.

The English Opening is currently enjoying an increase in popularity and was featured regularly in the last World Championship match. 1..c5 is Black's most solid reply and theory has developed rapidly over the modern times. This is the first comprehensive coverage of the symmetrical variation in Algebraic notation and contains all significant developments since the author's earlier work "English .. P-QB4".

In this major work, Paul Motwani, the author of the critically acclaimed H.O.T. Chess and C.O.O.L. Chess, looks in-deph at key aspects of chess. His witty style will not only amuse but will instruct the reader by providing memorable insights into chess secrets.

The Sveshnikov Sicilian is arguably the most dynamic line in the whole of the Sicilian Defence. Black takes on certain structural weaknesses but gains active piece play as compensation, which is very much in keeping with the modern style of play. Black is not content to equalize but from the very startsets out to wrest the advantage from his opponent's hands.

Once you have learned the basic moves, how exactly should you improve? In this much loved classic, Irving Chernev explains 33 complete games in detail, telling the reader the reason for every single move. When you play through these games and explanations you will get a real insight into the power of the pieces and how to post them most effectively.

The Grunfeld for the Attacking Player A Modern Guide to An Aggressive Chess Opening

Catalog Code: B0049BT

Grandmaster Bogdan Lilac provides a complete repertoire with the aggressive Grunfeld Defense, based around complete illustrative games. The Grunfeld has been a favorite of World Champions Fischer and Kasparov, and its young contemporary adherents include Vishwanathan Anand and Peter Leko.

The Najdorf Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6) is the most important, popular, and talked about opening in chess. Its name is synonymous with such luminaries as Tal, Fischer, and Kasparov.

Paul Keres was one of the greatest players in chess history and a leading contender for the world championship for over 30 years. His modest, honest and open-minded approach to chess made him popular with chess enthusiasts the world over. These qualities come over supremely well in his writing.

Paul Keres - The Quest for Perfection Inspiration and Instruction for Chess Players of All Levels

Catalog Code: B0037BT

Paul Keres was one of the greatest players in chess history and a leading contender for the world championship for over 30 years. His modest, honest and open-minded approach to chess made him popular with chess enthusiasts the world over. These qualities come over supremely well in his writing.

Richard Reti's Best Games Improve Your Chess by Studying the Games of the All-Time Deepest Thinker

Catalog Code: B0047BT

The most instructive games by one of the most original chess players of all time!

A new edition of Golombek's in-depth look at the chess of one of the most influential chess theoreticians of the twentieth century. As part of the algebraic classics series, it has been converted to modern notation by Grandmaster John Nunn, who has added analytical footnotes.

Beating the King's Indian and Benoni Shock Your Opponents with the Four Pawns Attack!

Catalog Code: B0051BT

It seems unfair that Black gets all the attacking chances in the normal lines of the King's Indian. Readers can now take a tip from the World's leading expert of sharp systems and shock their opponent with the Four Pawn Attack! Black has countless ways to go wrong, while White is risking little if well-prepared. Vaisser's hitherto unpublished analysis will give readers the edge they need to send Black's King to the guillotine.

The sequel to H.O.T. Chess. Grandmaster Motwani continues to explain his easy-to-use approach to chess thinking, and shows how Creative Original Opening Lines can bring astonishing over-the-board success. The many brilliant games in this book includes victories by Motwani over some of the world's leading players, whom he has outwitted in the early stages of the game.

This book focuses on the King's Indian variations that have undergone the most dramatic change in the 1990's: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0. The system with ..Na6 receives full coverage, together with the traditional main lines of 7..Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 followed by Ne1 or Nd2.

The Development of Chess Style An Instructive and Entertaining Trip Through the Heritage of Chess

Catalog Code: B0072BT

An algebraic expanded revision of Euwe's 1968 edition examining the contributions of great players throughout history. Nunn brings you up-to-date over the last 30 years with the eras of Fischer, Karpov, and Kasparov. They assess the contributions of each great players in the way chess is played and approached.

Jon Speelman's Best Games Improve Your Chess by Studying the Games of a Two-Time Candidate for the World Chess Championship

Catalog Code: B0073BT

Improve your chess by studying the games of a two-time candidate for the World Championship and three-time British champion. Jon Speelman annotates the best of his games in this collection, and includes games and stories from his World Championship campaigns, Chess Olympiads, and top-level grandmaster tournaments, including the World Cup.

The author addresses the nature of chess genius and the reader can take talent tests and answer challenging quiz questions on all aspects of practical decision making. Sections of the book are: "Intelligence, Creativity and Genius," "Characteristics of Chess Genius," "Inside the Chess Mind," "IQ and Chess Strength," "Inherent Unpredictability," "Talent Tests," and "Developing Your Talent."

The king is the most valuable piece on the chessboard, yet many players - especially at club level - give little thought to where His Majesty should reside. This wide-ranging survey explains the dangers with leaving the King in the center, and the possible drawbacks to castling too early or on the wrong side. Castling can be an attacking move, as shown in many stunning examples. An expected castling is often devastating and can often determine the game on the spot. This practical manual includes entertaining examples of late castling and castling in studies.

The Sicilian Defence features many dramatic variations, but for sheer violence, few can equal the Sveshnikov. Black aims for maximum piece activity at the cost of a shattered pawn structure. Black's aim is to seize the initiative, regardless of the cost. If he is successful, then the pawns will look after themselves. On the other hand, white is looking to use black's weaknesses as spring-boards for a ferocious attack of his own.

Chess Books

Choose from a huge selection of chess books, including a wide variety of topics, players and strategies from The House of Staunton. There is a chess book for nearly every chess move or chess defense you can think of. Looking for a chess book talking about a specific chess player? Browse the many different miscellaneous chess books available. Need to strengthen your opening game? Middle game? Or maybe your end game is lacking. There are chess books covering all of these topics and much more. The purpose of a majority of the chess books available is to serve as guides for beginners and advanced chess players alike, and to address different tactics and strategies to help improve your game. There are also biographical chess books that talk about specific Chess Players such as Magnus Carlsen or Vishwanthan Anand if you are interested in reading about a chess player and their life.

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